It has become common practice to treat tap water to further purify the water. Devices have been developed which are placed in the water line to treat the water before it reaches a faucet and other devices simply collect water from the faucet in a jug. A replacement cartridge is included in the jug so that the water passes through the cartridge before collection in the jug. A third approach has been to provide a water treatment device which can be attached directly to the faucet and which operates selectively to either allow water to pass directly from the faucet without treatment, or to pass through a water treatment cartridge before exiting from the structure. The present invention is of the type which attaches to the faucet.
Examples of devices which attach to faucets are to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,451 to Hembree, et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,868 to Yanou, et al. The general arrangement of the devices shown in these patents minimises loss of space under the faucet and permits selection of flow either without treatment or through water treatment material. In both patents, there is a side-by-side arrangement of valve assembly and a housing for the water treatment material. In the case of the patent to Hanou, et al, the housing is rotated relative to a main axis through the valve assembly to change from a straight flow through structure to a structure in which the water is diverted to flow through the water treatment material. This has become a general arrangement in structures of this kind. However, there are drawbacks.
It will be apparent that when assembling structures to conventional water faucets, there will be a variety of positions needed due to the variation in faucets and also due to their location in relation to sinks and surrounding structures. It is therefore necessary to be able to assemble the structure on the faucet so that the movement necessary to operate it is always unimpaired by surrounding structures. Also, users may prefer to have the arrangement such that the housing containing the filter material is to the left of the faucet whereas others may prefer it to the right of the faucet. Consequently, it is necessary to provide an attachment to the faucet which resists accidental movement in the wrong direction and also provides a strong positive connection.
A typical connection is shown in the Yanou, et al patent in which the structure is brought to bear against the faucet and clamped using a simple friction arrangement. The clamp is such that a tool must be applied externally and any force applied may result in damage to the structure and an unsightly result. Further, a large force is necessary to ensure positive connection so that when the user moves the housing to operate the device, the device will not rotate on the end of the faucet.
It is therefore desirable to provide a water treatment device which does not suffer from these disadvantages and which has a more positive connection resulting in a more positive "feel" when the structure is being operated by a user.
Another disadvantage of the prior art structure is that, once the water has been treated, it comes into contact with surrounding structures. This is undesirable and it is also an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge for use in a water treatment device such that treated water will leave the cartridge directly.